I think I may be losing the will to live.
This morning, I had an update from Stephen-from-Traffic confirming that my complaint about the mystery road sign was in the system and had been assigned a reference. He also told me that the County Councillor responsible for the sign would be at a Residents’ Association meeting tonight and suggested that it might be helpful to go along. Which I did.
So the situation is this (I think). Someone contacted the councillor to complain about parking, so the councillor organised a sign. However, because there was no consultation (too expensive), this is illegal. Since someone (me) has now asked about the lack of consultation, the councillor will have to arrange for the sign removed. No. I don’t understand either.
The same councillor also admitted to illegally extending double yellow lines on the same cavalier basis. Quite how you distinguish between double yellow lines that have the force of law and those that are basically just street art is anybody’s guess.
Anyway, we established yesterday that the “Residents Parking” sign doesn’t create any legally enforceable parking restrictions and, thanks to a council official who also attended the residents’ meeting, I can now reveal exclusively that there are hundreds of these signs all over the place. On hearing this, the phrase “Freedom of Information request” bounded unbidden into my consciousness, but I managed to suppress it.
The upshot is that I’m going to let my complaint stand and run its course (if you see what I mean). I’m simply not convinced that contacting 20-odd households to find out whether there is any evidence of a problem is really that complicated or that expensive (if it is, then there’s something wrong with the process). Public bodies should act on the basis of objective information and operate within the law.
Last updated: 14th Nov 2012 10:10-ish
After Work 
Has the sign come down yet? I am left on tender hooks; such a cliff hanger. Parking restrictions are a bain of my life. Saturday we were in Jericho (Oxford, still standing) for a pub Jazz evening and could not find a place to park so had to drop the hubby off with equipment and say ‘if I don’t find anywhere I’ll go home and pick you up later’. Then I remembered my off peak uni parking and parked in the material science dept. I then had to walk back to the pub down unfamiliar dark empty streets and did not feel safe. I am not sure about going to that area again, poor pub owner.
Don’t hold your breath – my impression is that it could take something like 3 months.
Parking in Oxford is a bit of an art, but you do get better with practice (although it’s probably best avoided, if at all possible). I know what you mean about dark streets, but I think Jericho these days is quite a safe place.